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About Us

This blog is the writing space of small-time authors Brandon Steenbock and Jon Mast. One day Brandon said to Jon, “We should have a place online where we can share stories, critique each other, and talk about writing.” And Jon said, “Yes, we should.” And so this blog was formed. Since then we’ve added other authors – pianomikey, Kenichi, AnnabethRyder, and bookspirit99. We love to explore writing as a creative exercise that reflects our Creator and is informed by Scripture.

Who are we?

Who are these guys? Brandon is a minister of youth and family with a great family of his own.

Jon is a pastor of a small congregation that keeps him very busy. You can read about his ministry at his other blog, Ordained for Growth. (“He also has a great family, in case you were wondering” -Brandon).

pianomikey runs a business and runs herd over a small flock of boys.

annabethryder does all sorts of things and constantly writes. Someday she’ll share her other blog with us, which she always talks to Jon about but never shares the address…

Kenichi is a former software programmer turned theologian and student of pastoral ministry. He loves Japanese culture. He loves Japanese people. He loves Japanese food. He loves Japan.

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Here at Seeking the New Earth, we explore writing and speculative fiction from a decidedly Christian worldview. That doesn’t mean that every post will be a sermon (in fact, very few are!). It does mean that all the writing here, along with the musing and everything else, comes with a solid moral core and a desire not to lift ourselves up, but rather to praise the One who gave us these talents in the first place. Sometimes you’ll see us struggle in this mission. Sometimes you’ll see us fail. We revel not in our efforts, though, but in the knowledge that Jesus has indeed forgiven all our failings!

Did somebody say fiction?

Among other things, you’ll find a lot of fiction here. You’ll find long fiction and short fiction. Some of our favorites:

The Joy Eaters: What happens when a person loses the ability to be sad?

Philia: The captain is pregnant… but space travel has a way of killing babies. Is it the best thing to abort the fetus to prevent it from a gruesome death, or would it be better to strand the crew in space to save the child?

Ruse: Two men want to save the Insane Empress… but who is deceiving whom?

Crownless: Being disconnected from the network is far worse when it’s jacked directly into your skull.

You may notice all these stories are Jon’s… there’s a reason. pianomikey and annabethryder post sporadically on here, so their choices are slimmer. (Of course, they might edit this page and change that. Go for it, you two!) Brandon has also taken down a good chunk of his best stories. He’s looking for publication, and as long as the stories are available here for free, no publisher will touch them. (Brandon! You want to link something here?)

Finally, you can also check out our Flash Fridays. Every Friday, we each put up a story of 1000 words or less. Sometimes it’s far, far less!

So, put your feet up, pull up a story, and stay a while. Enjoy your time as you explore our little corner of the net. And feel free to comment — any time!

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3 thoughts on “About Us”

Over the next several weeks/months some of the stuff I’ve posted up here in the past will appear again. I had a day a while back where I didn’t have time to decide what I wanted to sharpen and what I didn’t, so in a fit of stress over it I took them all down. Piece by piece I want to put them back up for your enjoyment, as time allows.